Grateful Shred

After a meteoric rise from obscurity to a national touring band, Los Angeles-based Grateful Shred has made the most of its time in the spotlight. The lineup, featuring Dan Horne and Austin McCutchen alongside keyboardist Adam MacDougall, guitarist John Lee Shannon and vocalist Mikaela Davis, woke the Grateful Dead cosmos with a unique laid-back harmony driven sound. The band literally went from playing the Shakedown Street vendor area prior to Dead and Company shows to touring the United States.

Grateful Shred manage to channel that elusive Dead vibe uniquely, with wide-open guitar tones, effortless three-part vocal harmonies, choogling beats, and yes, plenty of tripped out, Shredded solos. The look, the sound, the atmosphere is uncanny. Far from being a historical re-enactment, Grateful Shred’s laissez faire flow infuses the band with a gentle spirit, warmth, and (dare we say it) authenticity. From their killer merch game to their eminently watchable YouTube channel, they’re clearly having a real good time spreading the love. Strangely enough, in a world overflowing with wax museum nostalgia and Deadly sentimentalism, we need the Shred, now more than ever.

Grateful Shred is: Austin McCutchen (vocals and guitar), Dan Horne (bass, pedal steel, vocals), Mikaela Davis (vocals), Adam MacDougall (keys and vocals), John Lee Shannon (guitar), Corey Rose (drums)